House alert: Anti-Semitism on the rise

(Bundesarchiv, 1941) 

Anyone who thinks that "it can't happen here" or that "it can't happen again" had better pay close heed to what Congressman Chris Smith has been saying about the rising tide of anti-Semitism.

Rep. Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House's Global Human Rights Subcommittee, recently called a hearing regarding this threat to Jews, to other faiths, and to democracy itself.  During the hearing, Smith (also Co-Chair of the House Bi-Partisan Coalition for Combating anti-Semitism) reported the following:  Unparalleled since the dark ages of the Second World War, Jewish communities on a global scale are facing verbal harassment, and sometimes violent attacks against synagogues, Jewish

cultural sites, cemeteries and individuals.  He went on to make this emphatic point:  It is an ugly reality that won't go away by ignoring or wishing it away.  It must be defeated…

Interfaith panelists then made their own statements about this growing "cancer" of hatred.  Zudhi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, referred to anti-Semitism as the "canary in the coal mine" regarding threats to all people.  John Garvey, President of The Catholic University of America, called anti-Semitism "intrinsically wrong" because it "violates human dignity" by denying the rights to religious freedom and equality.  He also deplored it as an attack upon all Abrahamic religions.  Elisa Massimino, President of Human Rights First, pointed out that today's anti-Semitism "combines the ancient roots and forms… with new political elements."

She explained that "trigger events" in the Middle East are often "followed by sharp increases of attacks on Jewish institutions and on ordinary Jews living in Europe and North America."       

Resources

http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=321456

Copyright March 4, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved